What it’s like to self-test for Covid when flying home from abroad

On Feb 22, 2022

Images By Tang Ming Tung | DigitalVision | Getty Images

While scores of American spring breakers will soon descend on Florida hot spots like Daytona Beach and Panama City as well as other balmy U.S. destinations, many will instead opt for some fun in the sun in the foreign climes of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Once the party’s over, however, these college-age jet-setters — along with anybody else over age 2 looking to enter the U.S. — will have to test negative for Covid-19 before boarding the flight home. The rule, instituted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, took effect Dec. 6 and there’s no indication as yet that it will be lifted anytime soon.

That means taking a Covid test approved for international travel no more than one day before departure for the U.S. — either at a foreign testing site or with a self-testing kit you’ve brought from home — or submitting proof of recovery from infection within the past 90 days. The test taken must be a viral test (nucleic acid amplification test [NAAT] or antigen test) to determine if you have an active Covid infection. Details can be found online at Travel.state.gov and CDC.gov.

Airlines will deny boarding to anyone, U.S. citizen or not, without a negative test result or proof of recovery — likely meaning an unplanned extended, and likely expensive, stay abroad. (There are rare instances when exceptions are made for humanitarian reasons, but don’t count on one.) It can be a good idea to invest in a travel insurance policy covering unexpected medical and travel costs associated with Covid-19 infection and possible quarantine overseas.

What’s the testing and travel experience — and cost — like? I recently returned to New York from a weeklong stay in Mexico without a problem. I chose to self-test at my hotel in Puerto Vallarta, but there were other options available in the Pacific coast resort city, including at its international airport.

The Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board maintains a current list of some 17 private medical facilities offering tests, including prices and turnaround times, at Visitpuertovallarta.com/covid-19. Prices at press time ranged from $33 for a same-day antigen test to $198 for a PCR test with results in 32 hours.

A temporary lab at Puerto Vallarta International Airport offers preflight testing to departing international passengers at prices ranging from about $25 for an antigen test to $75 for PCR testing. The airport recommends arriving an extra hour early if testing right before check-in. Sixteen hotels offer also offer on-site testing in the city.

Before my departure from the U.S. at the start of my vacation, I had decided I didn’t want to leave testing up to chance once in Mexico. I had not been back to Puerto Vallarta since Covid first arose in late 2019 and…